Lessons from California wildfires and other natural disasters California’s wildfires highlighted the chaos that natural disasters continue to unleash – not just on homeowners, but also on the mortgage servicers tasked with supporting them and the insurance industry that covers the cost of rebuilding. From wildfires to hurricanes, floods and earthquakes, each crisis tests a servicer’s ability to...

Call me biased, but I can’t think of anything more inviting than a Ranch-style home with adobe elements and Spanish influences. Yet a newly listed Santa Barbara home raises the bar, adding oceanfront living to the mix, with wide-reaching water views and picture-perfect sunsets unfolding past its windows. Listed for a hefty $19,995,000, the Santa Barbara property offers a piece of California’s...

Spot problems with your foundation early so you can make repairs before they...

There was a lot these homeowners liked about their 2002 Spanish-style kitchen: the overall layout, rich stone tile flooring, decorative wood ceiling beams and its pro-style appliances. But overly ornate details on the cabinets, backsplash tile and green granite countertops didn’t fit their desired...

Curtains and drapes are soft window treatments that perform the same duties as the cousins they’re often paired with — shades, blinds and shutters — by providing privacy and light control and being a crucial part of a room’s design. But the wide variety of fabrics, patterns, colors and decorative...

Michael Gerrity, founder and CEO of World Property Ventures, believes the global property industry is poised for a major transformation. In the coming decade, rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, the explosion of market data and signals, automation, industry consolidation and tokenization will disrupt the market in ways that few are prepared for. Michael Gerrity Based in Miami, World Property...

According to StorageCafe, life events continue to shape the U.S. self-storage market, with moving, housing affordability, and economic shifts fueling sustained demand. Interest in self-storage has surged by 88% since 2020, reaching an all-time high of 25 million annual searches in 2024. As the industry navigates post-pandemic fluctuations and oversaturation in some markets, it has adapted to better serve...

Image Gladys Quinto Marrone says the results from charitable giving are “profound and...

There was no surprise on Wednesday as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) chose to leave the federal funds rate unchanged at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. The decision was almost universally expected by market observers as the Federal Reserve weighs data that could be pushing the U.S. toward a recession. The short-term direction of mortgage rates — which are more closely tied to Treasury yields than...

After taking the time to digest elements of a proposal from lawmakers in Hawaii, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) has expressed support for a measure to establish a state-run Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program there. In a letter submitted by NRMLA to sponsor lawmakers at the end of February, the association explained that it “strongly supports” the adoption of...